Carol West - Quahog Channel 5 News

Quahog Channel 5 News

• Thomas "Tom" Tucker (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) – Tom Tucker, also known by his stage name George P. Wilbur, is the arrogant, baritone male news anchor at Channel 5. He was also an actor before moving to Quahog, he was in the movie Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. Tom tends to insult everybody around him, particularly Diane Simmons, his former co-anchor. He disliked her and frequently traded insults with her on-air. His family includes his first wife, Stacy; his second wife, Sarah; and a son from his first marriage named Jake, whose face is upside down. He is shown to be protective of his son and dislikes people's use of the term "freak". MacFarlane stated that Tom Tucker's voice is the easiest to do for him, and he was "sort of modeled after the cigarette spokesman from the 1940s commercials". Tom hardly speaks in completely normal sentences, instead using his news anchor dialect in regular conversation (i.e. "Back to you, .") In the episode "And Then There Were Fewer", Diane Simmons caused the deaths of James Woods, Muriel Goldman, and Derek Wilcox leaving evidence that would frame Tom Tucker. In "Excellence in Broadcasting," Tom Tucker was released from prison and mentions on the news that Diane caused the murders and is now dead. He also introduces Joyce Kinney as Diane's replacement. In "Tom Tucker: The Man and His Dream," Peter learns about Tom Tucker's life as George P. Wilbur and had done minor TV appearances after that. Peter plans to get Tom back on the track in Hollywood. He started off by getting Tom a minor part in an episode of NCIS where Tom played a mechanic that Leroy Jethro Gibbs questions. In the episode "Mother Tucker" Tom has a brief relationship with Peter Griffin's mother, Thelma Griffin, where he became a father figure to a childish Peter. Meg Griffin had a temporary crush on him until he showed his true colours and didn't care if Neil Goldman died. Meg yelled at Tom saying he only cared about his ratings.

• Joyce Kinney (voiced by Christine Lakin) – Joyce Kinney was introduced in the episode "Excellence in Broadcasting" as a successor to the late Diane Simmons. In the season 9 episode "And I'm Joyce Kinney", it is revealed that she went to high school with Lois and harbors a grudge against her for a humiliating prank committed by Lois and the cheerleading squad. When Lois confides in her over drinks that she was in a porn film, Joyce announces it on the news the next day causing most of Quahog to loathe Lois. Also, it is revealed that in order to have a name that would work on television she changed her last name from Chevapravatdumrong (the last name of the co-producer for the series) to Kinney. When Lois showed the "Quest for Fur" porn film in church, Joyce was present and not pleased that the congregation forgave Lois.

• Diane Simmons (voiced by Lori Alan) – Diane Simmons is the news station's late former news co-anchor and talk show hostess. In the episode "The King Is Dead", it was revealed that her birth name was Diane Seidelman. She and fellow anchor Tom Tucker often traded insults on the air. Her largest role on the show was when Peter hired her to play Anna in his version of The King and I; she quit after he kept changing everything. It was revealed that her husband killed himself after Tom asked, "Diane, didn't your first husband blow his brains out?" In the hour-long season 9 premiere "And Then There Were Fewer," it was mentioned that she used to date James Woods until he broke up with her around the same time when Tom Tucker tried to replace her. Diane reveals that she worked with Tom for 15 years. This caused her to plan revenge on both men with James Woods ending up murdered and leaving evidence that Tom Tucker murdered Muriel Goldman, Derek Wilcox, James Woods' girlfriend Priscilla and Quagmire's then-girlfriend Stephanie. Lois put the pieces together and discovered this, only to come face to face with Diane. Diane then took Lois to the edge of a cliff and attempted to silence her, but suddenly, with the immortal catchphrase of "If anybody's gonna take that bitch down, it's gonna be me...", Diane is shot and killed by Stewie, thus saving Lois's life. In "Excellence in Broadcasting," her murderous actions and her own demise were mentioned by Tom Tucker and Diane was replaced by Joyce Kinney. Lori Alan has appeared in Seth MacFarlane's animated short Larry & Steve, a precursor to Family Guy. When Family Guy was created, Lori Alan auditioned for the role of Lois, but eventually was cast as Diane. Lori Alan stated that she based Diane's voice on her mother who was also a voice actress.

• Ollie Williams (voiced by Phil LaMarr) is the news station's Blaccu-Weather Forecast reporter. Ollie Williams is a fast-talking black man who works at the Quahog News Station. Ollie rarely speaks for more than about 1–3 seconds. His news reports are always rapidly spoken and loud. The only time he was ever calm was in "420", having smoked marijuana and it was later revealed his hyperkinetic style was also influenced by alcoholism. Ollie has only spoken for longer than a few seconds on two occasions, one in an episode where Ollie and Tom were talking about him stuck in a rainstorm with his umbrella blown away, and in "Lois Kills Stewie" where he recaps the previous episode, "Stewie Kills Lois".

• Tricia Takanawa (voiced by Alex Borstein) – Typically referred to as "Asian reporter Tricia Takanawa" by her colleagues, she speaks in a nasal monotone cadence that Borstein has described as "all presentation and no substance". She is confirmed as being Japanese in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story. In Livin' on a Prayer, Tricia has a distrusting African American boyfriend, who thinks she's cheating when she has to work at night. In "Da Boom", it is implied that Tricia has been killed by fellow anchors Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons in the post-apocalypse as a source of food.